Has anyone used a hoof clay product for white line on a barefoot horse? There are a couple spots where the diseased blackened white line was scraped out and there are some divots left.

There are a lot of tiny pebbles here that seem to push their way into those divots.

I'm wondering if putting in a hoof clay product would help treat the infection and also help keep debris out. It seems to me a little backwards since the area needs air to kill the microbes, but if left exposed it seems to cause problems with the pebbles too. I find the pebbles hard to get out and sometimes I don't notice them. When they finally come out the area is black underneath the pebbles again.

Those little pieces of gravel have to Be removed from the whiteline. Some of the tinier pieces can manage to work their way UP into the hoof, sometimes traveling to the coronary band and coming out thru the skin or the hoof wall. Sometimes they abscess, sometimes not.

When folks post pictures of a hole in the top side of a hoof wall and don’t remember the horse having a painful abscess, the odds are good it was a “gravel” coming out thru the hoof (that originally entered thru the whiteline) in the most non-invasive way possible.

Even if the whiteline is able to be packed, it won’t stay packed, plus you would have to be 200% positive there are not any stone pieces down in the whiteline score the packing goes in.

Your best option is to treat the whiteline with something like “White Lightening Gel” and close the whiteline up, thus avoiding any risk of traveling gravel:)

You can apply it on the scraped out white line. It fills the void, treats the tissue it comes in contact with, and most importantly, it hardens quite a bit, so little pieces of gravel and dirt won't get stuck in the little crevices.

Those little pieces of gravel have to Be removed from the whiteline. Some of the tinier pieces can manage to work their way UP into the hoof, sometimes traveling to the coronary band and coming out thru the skin or the hoof wall. Sometimes they abscess, sometimes not.

When folks post pictures of a hole in the top side of a hoof wall and don’t remember the horse having a painful abscess, the odds are good it was a “gravel” coming out thru the hoof (that originally entered thru the whiteline) in the most non-invasive way possible.

This is an old idea which is incorrect. Unless there is already separation the entire height of the wall, when it would be possible, but extremely rare still, IME. It would only be possible if gravel continued to be pounded in from below, and if the primary problem - severe separation - wasn't already making the horse lame, so much gravel in the hoof capsule very likely would. No, gravel cannot work it's way into hoof wall.

Abscesses aren't always painful(well, that's obvious to us anyway). They don't always make a horse lame. Especially if they're close to the coronary border, or in heels or frog, where the tissue is softer. Abscesses that erupt on the coronary border or top of the hoof generally start there, from a bash to the area or such. Unless there is major, chronic damage to the foot and the abscess at the coronary may be just one 'symptom' of the real prob.

Back to OP... So, aside from them causing blunt farriery tools if you can't get them out, I wouldn't worry too much about bits of gravel etc getting in, but I do usually dig out 'seedy' in a way that doesn't leave any tight holes, if possible. I will often rasp the wall in more of a 'roll' there, to keep it open. That means there's less able to get stuck in there, it's more likely to stay open to the air. BUT in the 'real world' - & I used to live in 'seedy central', where horses were in soft, often muddy ground for most of the year - it often happens that regardless how it's cut, holes can be filled up with crud. And yes, that's more of a seedy risk. So, yes, ideally, hole should be open to the air, but I'd much rather it 'plugged up' with stuff that reduces further harm, than manure & mud, if that's the choice.

You can use clay - I don't know what 'hoof clay' specifically is, but use 'Tuff Rock' clay poultice for all manner of things(good minor wound dressing to keep flies off & aid healing btw) and for hooves, I mix a little copper sulfate with it. Walkin's right, that it doesn't stay in reliably though, as it crumbles as it dries. But you really should dig it out regularly & treat infection topically, if there are any dregs left.

Another option, esp in 'difficult'(muddy, cruddy) environs is beeswax. It forms a mild hydrogen peroxide as it breaks down, so is a deterrent for further infection. Raw honey does, even more so. It sticks in well and it is slightly flexible, so doesn't crumble out when the hoof wall flexes. I make a concoction of beeswax, with a bit of copper sulfate and tea-tree oil in it for 'seedy plugs'. It's still important, if there is any infection at all underneath, to clean out & treat topically, regularly, and I usually advise people do so at least every 2-3 days to begin, then once a week thereafter. But I've come back after 5 weeks to clients and commended them on diligent care of the seedy hole, only for them to exclaim 'oh is the beeswax you put in still there??' So it's pretty effective at staying put!

^Like 'The Guru's Cat'... and white hooves being weak, etc, etc. There are generally some truths in these things, and on this note, I sus that sometimes gravel has been found in abscess cracks, and it has been assumed that's what caused them.

I once had a vet come to my lame donkey, and dig multiple small holes all over his (extremely thin) sole, because she had been taught that abscesses always start when something sharp penetrates the sole, and she believed she was 'following tracts'. She was puzzled that she never found the abscess.... but she did, without recognising she did so, uncover the solar corium under the tip of P3. A week later, donk blew a MASSIVE abscess at the coronary band at the toe, a week after that, his whole sole came away!! This was when I'd just started learning about hooves... after having learned from farriers how to trim & shoe my own horses, but I regularly got a farrier to the donk, because they hardly resembled hooves & I didn't want to mess him up. Never again got a farrier to him after that though & eventually got him sound & comfortable... for the first time in years!

It will be about 2 weeks before the B Gone is delivered. It's nice to know that it hardens a bit.

In the mean time I did also order the Life Data Hoof Clay, which is iodine, tea tree, and yucca in silicon dioxide and "grain extract". I wonder if it ends up working like sugardine at all, I would think the grain extract might have sugars in it, but who knows. It was delivered quickly so I'll give it a try while I wait for the B Gone.

Maybe it will at least catch some of the pebbles before they get jammed too far up and when I remove the clay they will be suspended in the clay. I'll report back. I'll likely replace it daily or every other day to be sure.

Here's an update with my experience using the Hoof Clay while I wait for the B Gone.

I was scraping out the hooves with a knife instead of a hoof pick to get the pebbles out initially. I've been filling the space with the Hoof Clay, and then putting the hoof down on shavings, which seems to be key in getting the clay to stay in. The hoof clay is tacky and the shaving stick to it which seals things in more. The hoof clay has been staying in the white line for up to 2 days, and seems to be working well. There haven't been any pebbles lodged in there, a few on the surface. They have all come out easily! I've been busy myself so no riding on the pebbled terrain, which would be the real test. The horse has been turned out and I haven't has a single pebble get jammed in, just on the surface and easy to remove.

Some areas where I applied the Hoof Clay the diseased white line became crumbly and was easily scraped out. It seems it is effective at killing the disease. Apply with gloves, or have soap on hand as it sticks and won't come off with just water. I should be able to go riding this week and can comment on the effectiveness of the hoof clay staying in with mild-moderate riding if anyone is interested.

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